Tristan Cliffe, from Mulbarton, kicked off his 2008 Monoposto Championship campaign in style with his first ever race victory at Snetterton this weekend.

Tristan Cliffe, from Mulbarton, kicked off his 2008 Monoposto Championship campaign in style with his first ever race victory at Snetterton this weekend.

The weekend was not without its moments of drama though!

After qualifying for race one in second place, all the competitors found themselves on the wrong tyres after a very heavy and unexpected hailstorm drenched the circuit.

All competitors were sliding or spinning and Tristan was found himself sliding onto the grass after the second corner leaving him well down the field.

A series of fastest laps saw him climb his way back up to fourth, and would have certainly claimed a podium position given another lap. The race win went to Neil Harrison driving a Dallara F398.

Qualifying for race two was very cold, with a few snowflakes, but the circuit was dry enough to justify slicks. Cliffe took his Reynard 883 to 3rd on the grid behind Harrison and Jeremy Timms.

Disaster saw Cliffe stall on the formation lap and required a push start from the marshals, and had to start the race from the back of the grid.

Timms took an early lead from Harrison but both drivers tangled and were forced to retire with damage to their cars, leaving Kevin Mason and Andy Woolley challenging for the lead. Cliffe however, was class of the field and scythed his way through the field, taking the race lead on lap five and set a new lap record for his class in the process. Result: 1 Cliffe, 2 Mason, 3 Woolley.

The first race for 1200cc to 1800cc cars saw Ben Anderson qualify his Jedi on pole and took a lights to flag victory despite stiff competition from Steve Cave.

Cave took pole from Anderson for race two but also had similar problems to Cliffe and had to fight his way through the field and eventually took the final podium place.

The next round is at Silverstone on April 27.